Founded in October 2026, Jal Bandhan is an initiative exploring the development and deployment of a smart, biodegradable polymer-based seed coating designed to improve water retention and input efficiency during crop establishment. Developed in partnership with Apcotex Industries, the project follows a phased pathway beginning with a survey, which seeks to understand farmers’ irrigation practices, water constraints, and economic realities across different agro-climatic settings. These insights are intended to directly inform the design of an electrospun nanofiber coating designed to control permeability and nutrient absorption around seeds. The project then moves from development towards accessibility and evidence-building through a series of connected initiatives; including a farmer handbook that translates the science into simple, practical guidance.
Other elements include a patent that is intended to protect the intellectual property behind the innovation, followed by a land transformation project, where the coating will be tested through monitored field trials. The longer-term vision includes refining and distributing the product through a distribution program and documenting its agronomic, economic, and environmental outcomes through an impact report. Together, these stages are designed to take an idea from listening, to making, to testing, to measuring and eventually, to the farmers themselves.